Agenda Wars

For more than a month, the U.S. and the Soviet Union have been sending
signals back and forth about the need for high-level talks this fall on
limiting space weapons. Last week, when Washington again indicated it
would prefer not to restrict the discussions to limits on such weapons,
the Kremlin declared ominously: "The position of the United States
has made impossible negotiations as proposed by the Soviet
government." The chilly abruptness of that statement was
unexpected. Nonetheless, the Reagan Administration politely but firmly
continued to call for talks on intermediate-range and intercontinental
missiles, as well as space...